Press room: Fête in France joins the Junebug family

It’s official - Fête in France has been selected to join the Junebug Weddings family!

Press room: Fête in France selected to join list of top wedding vendors!

2011 has been a great year for Fête in France! We’ve been featured on Style Me Pretty, 100 Layer Cake & Martha Stewart Weddings, and now we’ve been asked to join a list of top wedding vendors curated by one of the top wedding websites/blogs!

We’re honored to have received attention and press for our work and can’t wait to share more beautiful weddings with you!

Wed among fine wines in a traditional french vineyard…

Set amongst the flourishing vines that soak up the year-round Languedoc sunshine, this charming old vineyard was once a large domain for wine production. Today, its owners have renovated the Chateaus’ old ‘Cave’ (cellar) into a beautiful wedding venue. It’s a perfect setting for any couple that would like to marry in a place soaked in the history of wine production, a culture that the French hold dear.

For a winter wedding you might like to hold your reception inside the grand walls of the Old wine hall; not only are you surrounded by the ancient cuve’s (barrels) once used by the chateau but the staff can also serve you a glass of the delicious local Coteaux du Laguedoc wine from the original wine press that has been transformed into the bar.

For a summer ceremony, the garden or vineyards make a wonderful setting from where to receive your wedding blessing. If you’d prefer a church wedding, the village church is approachable by horse and cart.For an evening celebration, the candelabras and Chinese lanterns adorning the sheltered courtyard provide an ambient, inviting atmosphere in which to receive your guests for your reception.

The house and its cottages (which sleep up to 38 guests in total) are perfectly equipped to suit your needs. On sight chefs cater for all evening dining, which can range from intimate family BBQs to larger style banquets depending on your wishes. Whilst you’re there, you and your guests can take art courses in the grounds, play a round of tennis on the courts, or simply soak up the sun relaxing by the pool.

Why not let a beautiful setting, some fine wines and the glorious south of France sunshine provide the backdrop for your big day?

For any further information on this venue or any other please contact us at contact@feteinfrance.com

 

 

Your fairytale castle…

… with practical advantages!

Everyone knows that we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to chateaus in France. They come in every shape and size, every state of repair (or disrepair). So it’s always a pleasure to discover a place that ticks all of the boxes our clients have when looking for a chateau for their wedding venue.

Easily accessible from Paris via TGV or from London via Ryanair, this chateau is located just a short 20 minute drive from Poitiers. The chateau was originally built in the middle ages, and like many other structures, was added to and modified over the centuries. While many of the guestrooms still have some of the surprising details left over from the medieval period, all of the bathrooms have been elegantly updated! The chateau comfortably sleeps 34 and can accommodate up to 45 if need be – a real plus!

The grounds of the chateau present a variety of choice for your wedding festivities. Will you have your ceremony on the veranda or in the beautiful gothic church just steps away? Will the cocktail be in front of the chateau or in the rustic “chai” (refurbishment planned for 2012)? Will the dinner be in the reception room or outdoors in long tables in the tree-lined alley? So many possibilities to make a memorable day for you and your guests (and always with ample possible back-up solutions in case of inclement weather!)

Nous, on adore!

A Château Wedding in the Loire Valley – Part 2

The reception room we started with was a bare room with stone vaulted ceilings so all the decoration needed to be brought in. In keeping with the château chic theme, the tables were dressed in gold damask tablecloths with high gold candlelabra centerpieces and gold candles. Different aged gold picture frames denoted table names each named after a different Loire Valley chateau.
Lighting was essential to pulling the room together and our expert lighting technicians lit bathed the room in soft gold and rose-colored light and projected damask and leaf patterns on to the vaulted ceilings.
The bride and groom had two cakes – One a traditional American wedding cake and a Pierre Hermé macaron cake.

Have a look at some of the pictures…

All photos courtesy of Olivier Lalin.

Le Perche – a great escape only 2 hours from Paris

Le Perche is a little known area of Normandy but it’s an area of France that is near and dear to our hearts here at Fête in France.  Last weekend we got the opportunity to visit a new wedding venue in the area so faster than we could say oui, we had our car keys in hand and our golden retriever in the backseat for a spin out over the rolling green hills of the countryside of lower Normandy.

We pulled up at the chateau and immediately liked what we saw – a long drive, a big parc, a pond and a pretty turreted chateau.  The chateau has been beautifully maintained and features exposed stone walls in many of the rooms.  It’s cozy, bright and welcoming.  For the moment there are 4 very large bedrooms in the chateau and then there are numerous outbuildings which house additional accommodation and a theater.    After a nice visit with the owner and a delicious lunch of homemade soupe de poisson the crowd began to arrive for a traditional English tea dance, which you can read more about in Fête Notes!

Château dinner

We were recently invited to dinner by a chateau-owner, or châtelain, who has a château about 35 minutes from Paris.  Madame Châtelaine, who spends most of her time in the US, singlehandedly oversaw the entire renovation of the château, from the carefully aged tiles in the bathrooms to the antique furniture that graces each uniquely decorated room.

So it wasn’t surprising that Madame Châtelaine would be able to host a gourmet dinner for 10!  And it wasn’t just the food that was remarkable – Fête in France’s dinner companions were:  two blonde Eastern-Europeans/former professional tennis players; an endearing English businessman and his wife, who had the most wonderful continental European accent; a very elegant older couple who traveled the world and who were great patrons of opera and ballet; a charming French businessman from Versailles.

Despite the evident gap in age, means, and social status (alas, we do not count Lenny Kravitz or Sharon Stone among our “besties”) we had such a great time!  Actually, this is one of the occasions where the word “marvelous” would do it more justice: we had such a marvelous time!

So we’re crossing our fingers that we’ll have the chance to get back to the château, whether it’s for another dinner or even better, for a wedding we’ve booked!

Breathtaking luxury château…only 35 minutes from Paris

We were recently lucky enough to visit a truly fabulous château (and trust us, we see a lot of fabulous places!). So what sets it apart you ask? Let us count the ways…
1) located only 35 minutes from Paris so you’re there before you have time to make it through your favorite ipod playlist
2) A grand entrance to greet you with a large gate and cobblestoned drive
3) Beautiful grounds with a lake, forest and elegant French gardens designed by no other than the master of the art – Le Nôtre
4) Chapel for a wedding ceremony of up to 100 guests
5) A reception room ideal for 60-70 guests
6) Guest accommodation site for up to 30 people in rooms decorated with French antiques and modern bathrooms (the best of the past and present!)
7) Period costumes on hand…gentlemen, start powdering your wigs and ladies, start channeling your inner Marie Antoinette.

Interested? More information and pricing upon request.

Reinauguration of a classic Parisian wedding venue

Last evening Fête in France attended the reinauguration of one of the classic wedding venues in Paris – in fact Anne’s parents-in-law had their wedding there over 50 years ago! This venue doubles as the alumni club of one of France’s prestigious grande écoles.

We were treated to champagne and canapés and chef’s stations that couldn’t manage to churn out the nibbles fast enough (our favorite: crab & caviar served on a potato chip!) We were also treated to some classic quadrille dancing by current students, smartly dressed in uniforms and long red dresses.

The rooms on the main floor have been beautifully restored and the hand-applied gilt details sparkled in the chandelier light. The blue room also caught our eye – very Marie Antoinette!

Modern Vintage photography

Visit any blog posting “real wedding” photos and you’ll see that the latest rage in wedding photography is “modern vintage”.  This textured and poetic style was perfectly executed by one of our favorite photographers, Kevin Hulett.  He captured the dream-like wedding of Lisa & Pat who, with their baby Evan and two friends, had an intimate ceremony in Paris back in September.

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